Malloy talks of 'new reality' of labor

By James Hohmann

02/27/11 04:28 PM EST

Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy spoke Sunday of a “new reality” in the relationship between states and their employees, a result of the recession.

Asked about what Gov. Scott Walker’s doing in the Badger State, the Democrat said he sees it partly as an effort to punish labor. He blamed Republican tax cuts for some of Wisconsin's $136 million projected deficit.

“I think it was an easy issue,” he said at the National Governors Association. “This is more about politics than it is about concessions.”

In an interview with POLITICO, the Democrat described himself as a check on his own Democratic legislature.

“I would suppose that they are in the process in essence of negotiating what that new relationship is, and of course that negotiation takes place on a state-by-state, municipality-by-municipality basis,” he said. “Where pensions are terribly underfunded—like Connecticut at 52 percent—that has to be a major part of our discussion. Where pensions are better funded—such as New York State—that particular portion of the issue may not be as big.”

Malloy assumed $1 billion in concessions from public employees for each of the next two years in his budget, but he also proposes a broad-based tax increase and $800 million in line-item cuts.

“I suppose they’re not happy at all since I’m a Democrat and I’m not supposed to be doing those kinds of things,” he said of public employees.

He faulted the previous governor, Republican Jodi Rell, for using up the rainy day money, borrowing a lot of money to cover operating expenses and not using generally accepted accounting practices.

“I’m not going to play any games,” he said.

The Constitution State has long been blue, but Malloy is the first Democratic governor in 20 years. Republicans, and an independent, have traditionally been elected as checks on the liberal state legislature.

“Our version of GOP governors…were moderate, not intending to do anything,” he said. “And now they have a check against the Democratic legislature that actually has a plan.”

“There is a reality that a Democratic Party in opposition is different than a Democratic Party who is pulling the levers,” he added. “Unfortunately people who aren’t in opposition sometimes don’t account for how their words are sounding to the people who are receiving them. So, I think Democrats sounded a lot more radical in Connecticut than perhaps, at least in Senate, they actually are. So now we have a different set of realities that play out.”

Malloy is watching what’s happening in Washington closely, especially the prospect of a shutdown.

“The governor in me obviously hopes that they don’t shut down the government,” he said. “The Democrat in me says if they’re crazy enough to do it they deserve what they get, meaning the Congress. I watched this train wreck play out in ’95-’96. … If cutting deficits was so darn important, then why did they negotiate the terms to the renewal of the tax package?”

“I think that’s in some sense a comment on the insatiable appetite for positions to be in opposition with this administration on,” he added. “So if it’s not one thing, it’s going to be another. And I think the Republicans’ platform is to fight the fights of the past and try to find the right issue.”

He said the GOP could make the budget issue a winner, but he predicted that Republicans will bungle their handling of the issue politically.

“In the complexities of the budget discussion and the deficit and spending discussions, they think they have a winner,” he said. “And they probably do as long as they don’t overplay their hand, but the history of the Republicans overplaying their hands on this issue is pretty significant. … I think it will happen unless Speaker [John] Boehner finds a way to communicate with his tea party members.”